d of the stairway now, and
he looked at Alice Deringham as he added, "And the effect will not wear
off."

Thorne passed through with the others into the lighted room, and Alton
stood silent before the girl. She was a trifle pale, and though the
pity for him was there, it is possible that she had understood him, and
she was very proud. Thus the silence that was perilous lasted too
long, and her voice was a trifle strained in place of gentle as she
said, "I am so sorry."

Alton, who dared not look at her, now bent his head. "You are very
kind--still, it can't be helped," he said. "I think Mrs. Forel is
coming back for you. Somebody is going to sing."

Their hostess approached the doorway, and Alice Deringham found words
fail her as she watched the man, though she knew that the silence was
horribly eloquent. It was Alton who broke it.

"You had better go in. I"--and he smiled bitterly--"will wait until
the music commences and they cannot notice me."

The girl could stay no longer, though at last words which would have
made a difference to both of them rose to her lips, but Alton waited
until he could slip into the room unnoticed, and heard very little of
the music. During it Mrs. Forel managed to secure a few words with
Thorne.

"You seem to have made friends with rancher Alton," she said.

Thorne smiled a little. "Yes," he said. "Of course I know little
about him, but I think that is a man one could trust."

The lady nodded, for he had given her an opportunity. "You know more
about his partner?"

Thorne's manner appeared to change a trifle, which Mrs. Forel of course
noticed. "Yes," he said.

The lady thoughtfully smoothed out a fold of her dress. "Well," she
said with Western frankness, "I want to know a little about him, too."

Thorne smiled as he saw there was no evading the issue. "So I surmised
from what your husband asked me. Seaforth was considered a young man
of promise when I knew him in England, and his family is unexceptional.
His father, however, lost a good deal of money, which presumably
accounts for Charley having turned Canadian rancher."

Mrs. Forel turned so that she could see her companion. "That is not
what I mean, and I think I had better talk quite straight to you. Now
I like Mr. Seaforth and Mr. Alton, too, and as Jack is mixed up in some
business of theirs and they are going to stay down in Vancouver we
shall probably see a good deal of them. Jack, however, is somet